The Silverwings

...good ideas, good playing... - Comments Courtest of Music Xray

Vents: So why don’t you introduce yourself?

Jeff Starace: My name is Jeff Starace, and I am the guitarist/lead singer of The Silverwings.
Chris Morales: My name is Chris, and I play drums
Sal Pisciotta: My name is Sal Pisciotta and I contribute bass.



Vents: How did you guys put this band together?

JS: The old lead singer and I decided that we wanted to form a band, so we went out to look for musicians. I met Chris in freshman year of college. We went through many bassists until we got to Sal. There was even rhythm guitar for a little while. Over time, we morphed into the trio we are today.
CM: Well, I’ve been in and out of bands since 2005. Since graduating in 2009, I was out of a band. Freshman year in college, I met Jeff, and we took it from there.
SP: The Silverwings existed for a few months before I joined up. They were looking for a bassist and we were introduced through a mutual friend.



Vents: What’s the story behind the band’s name?
CS + SP: Refer to Jeff.
JS: Honestly, I was looking at this book cover, and there were mechanical wings on it. I suggested Gearwing, and my friend suggested Silverwing. I eventually became The Silverwings after a band vote. The reason it stuck is more of a personal thing, though. For me, the color silver represents chaos. The wings represent freedom. When you combine the two together, you have freedom from the chaotic thoughts of the human mind by becoming so in tune with the music that it becomes a form of mediation. In fact, there is a freedom I feel when I express my chaos that is quite indescribable.



Vents: What are your music influences?

JS: Consider The Source, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Black Keys, The Doors, The White Stripes, Green Day, Nirvana, Queens Of The Stone Age, Tame Impala, etc.
CM: blink-182, Green Day, Beatles, Nirvana, Sum 41, Queens of The Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Motion City Soundtrack, etc.
SP: A bit of everything. Elliott Smith, Nick Drake, Queen, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Motorhead, Eyedea, Jay Reatard, Ella Fitzgerald, A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Alexander Bashlachev, Jaco Pastorius, R.E.M., etc. I guess I get to be the pretentious one.



Vents: Been from such an iconic place as NY, how is to be an indie band?

CM: Interesting to say the least. NY has such high cultural/artistic content, but you have to find it. If you aren’t constantly looking for people who are just like you, life and the scene will slip right past you.
JS: It’s definitely fun and exciting, but it’s also really hard! The thing is, we live in NYC and everyone and their mothers are in a band. So, to really enjoy it, it helps to look past the competitive nature of being in a band and to just try and enjoy the experience for what it is.
SP: I have to agree with Jeff and Chris, but Jeff especially. There are a ton of bands here in New York City, and there’s also so much to do. It’s a real effort to promote and get people to come out, but it’s definitely worth it. Jeff is right about the competitive nature, I think that definitely exists. It’s not a jealous competition, but it’s more of The Silverwings and other bands constantly challenging each other to up the ante. It’s fun, as difficult as it can be.



Vents: What’s your songwriting method?
Jeff: I either come up with a simple riff or lyrics to an entire song. Then, from there, I fill in the blanks, and I do my best to transform it into a cohesive idea. I also leave a lot of space for Sal and Chris to improvise their parts on. Another thing is that I like to improvise most of my solos as opposed to writing them. It makes it feel more authentic to me.
SP: Jeff usually brings pretty well-formed ideas to us. He does most of the work. He usually has an idea or two for bass lines or drums fills or what-not, so we really just take his ideas, work our own style and ideas into it, and we put it all together. I think we do a pretty good job of bringing our slightly different tastes to Silverwings songs. I think we’re all really happy with how the songs come out.
CM: I just add drums to whatever Jeff brings us.



Vents: Static. How was the recording and writing process?

CM: Most of the songs had been written already, and we wrote our individual parts as our contributions. We started demo-ing years before we started on tracks for the EP. We started on a Fostex 8-Track recorder, and the summer of last year Jeff and I just splurged on over $1000+ of recording equipment. That’s when we started to get work done.
JS: The songs were all songs we had played countless times, so the writing process was already done by the time we recorded. Recording took some getting used to since we did most of it in my drummer’s basement. I think the hardest part was actually mixing it once it was recorded as well as setting up everything, though I do like how it ended up coming out.
Sal: Most of my work involved just playing. Maybe I adjusted a mic or two, but that was about it. Wh - Vents Magazine